Risda: Ketum business can rake in billions
Head of smallholders’ agency says high demand from pharmaceutical companies seeking alternatives to modern medicine.
PADANG BESAR: The ketum plant has the potential to be the basis of a huge business which can contribute billions to the country, said Risda chairman Zahidi Zainul Abidin today.
He said demand for ketum had come from pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States as they saw the advantage of the plant as an alternative to modern medicine.
“I had proposed that ketum trees be grown in a controlled manner for export due to this demand,” he told reporters when met at Padang Besar Umno’s Aidilfitri open house today.
His proposal raised a controversy and opposition from several parties, including Perlis Menteri Besar Azlan Man who said the state government was strongly against the idea.
Rural development minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the ministry would not allow smallholders to grow ketum trees.
“If the minister and many others are against it we will have to go with their decision in spite of the volatile rubber prices. Risda (which is the rubber smallholders’ development agency) will have to look for other alternatives,” said Zahidi who is also Padang Besar Umno division chief.
The leaves of the ketum plant, Mitragyna speciosa, locally known as biak, have been boiled for use as traditional medicine, especially in rural areas to provide relief for illnesses such as diarrhea, fever and cough. However it has also become the basis of drug abuse.
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